Thursday, August 13, 2009

SHAH ALAM: There were no notes or records in the notebook of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officer who called Teoh Beng Hock in for questioning.

Teoh was summoned to the MACC office on July 15 and was released after questioning in the early hours of July 16.

The coroner's court, however, was told yesterday that there were no notes of the questioning session in the notebook of the MACC officer assigned to this case.

The 11th witness in the inquest, Inspector Mohd Zulaimi Mohd Zubir, told the inquest he was ordered to seize the "official daily notebook" of the MACC investigating officer who was leading the graft probe.

(Teoh had been called to the MACC as a witness in the probe against several Selangor Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen.)

Zulaimi said he seized the notebook belonging to the investigating officer, Mohd Anuar Ismail, on July 18, two days after Teoh was found dead.

"I made 10 copies of the notebook and had them certified by the MACC deputy director," Zulaimi said to a question by counsel Tan Hock Chuan, who is assisting the Attorney-General's Chambers in the inquest.

Tan: Were there any notes in Anuar's official daily notebook 2009?

Zulaimi: There was only one (entry) on July 8, (on) Wednesday, which states "house/Putrajaya/office Toll RM".

Tan: Were there any notes on July 15 and 16?

Zulaimi: No.

Tan: So, from July 1 to 18, there was only one entry, which was made on July 8?

Zulaimi: Yes.

Tan: Besides Anuar's notebook, did you seize the notebook of any other officer?

Zulaimi: No. I only confiscated Anuar's, but if I am not mistaken, Inspector Shahzrin and Chief Inspector Zakiol did.

Zulaimi, who is also an IO at the Shah Alam district police station, seized the Plaza Masalam closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) hard disk on July 18 to find out the time Teoh had entered the building.

"Teoh came in through the lobby on the 4th floor at 18:08:55 and did not leave the premises," he said.

"I was also instructed by the Shah Alam police chief ACP Noor Azam Jamaludin to seize CCTV recordings between midnight and 7am on July 16 to monitor the movements of MACC officers and other individuals."

He said 47 still pictures were captured from the CCTV images of people walking in and out of the building.

Zulaimi, however, said he did not recognise any of them, but was told by the security guards at Plaza Masalam that they were MACC officers.

The CCTV recordings were later handed to the Forensics Department in Bukit Aman for analysis.

On the day Teoh died, Zulaimi was instructed to go and secure the scene.

He said while he was there, an MACC officer told him that the victim was a witness in a graft probe.

Later when questioned by counsel Gobind Singh Deo, Zulaimi admitted that he did not take the details of the MACC officer who had told him Teoh was a witness.

Gobind: How many MACC officers did you see when you were at the scene?

Zulaimi: About four to five. They were looking from a window of an office premises about five to six feet away from the body.

Gobind: Did you ask them how their witness could have fallen?

Zulaimi: No.

Gobind: Why didn't you ask the identity of the officer who had told you that Teoh was their witness?

Zulaimi: I was not instructed to.

Gobind: Isn't it important to do so?

Zulaimi: Yes. I forgot to do so.

Gobind: Did it ever cross your mind that Teoh could have been pushed or flung out of the building?

Zulaimi: Yes, but after investigations, we learnt that Teoh could have either fallen or was pushed from a window on the 14th floor.

Another witness, Inspector Mohd Zaidi Abu Hassan, of the police's forensic lab, said he was tasked with extracting details from Teoh's Sony Ericson P1i handphone.

Beng Hock's baby boy born

Important!

Sdr Teoh Beng Hock (1979-2009)

We are mourning the death of Sdr Teoh Beng Hock who passed away on 16th July 2009.

Sdr Beng Hock was invited by the Selangor MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) to assist in their investigation into constituency allocations. He went to the MACC Headquarters at around 5.40pm on 15th July 2009 but never came back. His body was found on the 5th floor of Wisma Masalam at 1pm on 16th July, less than 20 hours later. The MACC office is located on the 14th floor of the same building.

Sdr Beng Hock previously worked as a reporter for Sin Chew Daily and joined the office of Selangor Exco, Ean Yong Hian Wah after the 2008 General Election as the latter's political secretary. He was a helpful and diligent young man, liked by all who worked with him and cherished by those who are his good friends.

The death of Sdr Beng Hock is shrouded in mystery and a slew of unanswered questions. It involved a power law enforcement agency in the country – MACC - that was supposed to protect the interests of the people and the country. There have been many police custodial deaths but this is the first case of death in the custody of the MACC.

We demand answers and a detailed explanation of the death of Sdr Beng Hock. We demand justice for Sdr Beng Hock!